November 27 – Raymond Kennedy (pictured), the President of the Ireland Football Association (IFA), has defended the decision to give former chief executive Howard Wells a six-figure payout following criticism from Northern Ireland’s Sports Minister Nelson McCausland.

November 26 – England’s World Cup bid owes it to the competing cities for 2018 to put an end to all the squabbling and backbiting that has marred the campaign in recent weeks, according to bid chief executive Andy Anson (pictured third right).

November 26 – A row between Major League Soccer (MLS) and the MLS Players Union could threaten the United States’ bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup and the participation of the American team at the tournament in South Africa next year, it has been claimed.

November 26 – England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup will today switch temporarily from the boardroom politics that are threatening to undermine the campaign when 15 cities from across the country will travel to Wembley Stadium to submit their cases to be included as part of the plans.

November 25 – John Delaney, the chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), tonight claimed that FIFA President Sepp Blatter had deliberately avoided getting involved in the debate over Thierry Henry’s handball (pictured) because he did not having to make a tough decision.

November 25 – CONMEBOL, South America’s governing body, has backed a plan by Argentina and Uruguay to launch a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup to commemorate the centenary of the first-ever tournament that was also held in Uruguay.

November 25 – Richard Caborn, the former Sports Minister, has effectively called for Lord Triesman to be sacked as head of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup and replaced by Gary Lineker (pictured), the country’s second-highest international goalscorer who is now a presenter with BBC Television.

November 24 – Portsmouth City Council tonight voted against putting itself forward as a host city if England’s bid to stage the 2018 World Cup is successful after they said they were not prepared to put up the £15 million guarantee required.

November 24 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today officially signed $100 billion (£604 million) deal with World Sport Group (WSG), extending a partnership that stretches back to 1993 and emphasises the sport’s growing value in the area, the world’s largest and most populous continent.